JAY PARIS COMMENTARY: Among champions

Shifty Faulk needs no moves for entry into Hall of Champions

SAN DIEGO -- The shifty Marshall Faulk was the subject, which
got the wiggly LaDainian Tomlinson's lips moving. Tomlinson,
though, played it straight.

"Marshall was the best all-around back ever," he said.

Yikes.

When the best of the best calls you the best, is that
doubly-best?

Tomlinson was shoveling praise Faulk's way this week, among
those in a long line doing just that.

Faulk, the Crescent City comet, San Diego State stallion and NFL
MVP is being inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame at the San
Diego Hall of Champions on Wednesday night.

That Faulk is being enshrined isn't the mystery. The mystery is
what took so long?

The Aztecs never saw a talent like the elusive Faulk, who
declared for the 1994 NFL draft following his junior year.

And they likely never will again.

He served notice with a seven-touchdown outing in his second
SDSU game. He rushed for more than 3,000 yards his first two
seasons; ran for 300 yards in a game twice, went for 200 in
seven.

Faulk, a three-time All-American, finished his college career in
1993 with 4,589 yards and 62 touchdowns -- second in NCAA
history.

He was second to one in 1992, when Miami's Gino Torretta edged
him to win the Heisman Trophy. With the East Coast talking heads
pumping Torretta, Faulk's NCAA-best 1,630 rushing yards and 15
touchdowns weren't enough.

The voters weren't swayed, but Faulk never stiff-arms
speculation he deserved the award.

"Without a doubt I won the Heisman," Faulk said on a conference
call last week. "Call Gino and he will give it to me, although that
is all that he has to his name."

The oversight put Faulk into overdrive. The motivation that
lifted him from the New Orleans housing projects had found another
gear.

"Not winning the Heisman was probably the best thing that
happened for me because it gave me extra drive," said Faulk, who
set or tied 19 NCAA records. "That fueled the fire through my whole
career."

The 5-foot-10, 210-pound Faulk went to the Colts as 1994's
second overall pick, despite detractors pointing to his frame and
questioning his durability. Instead, Faulk's versatility and
understanding of football became unrivaled. Collecting three
All-Pro selections and seven Pro Bowl appointments sways the
naysayers.

For 13 seasons, Faulk the receiver was nearly as good as Faulk
the rusher.

"He could run routes just as easily as he could run through
defenses," Tomlinson said.

Faulk twice led the league in yards from scrimmage, and in four
straight seasons he collected over 2,000 yards. He finished with
nearly 20,000 total yards, 100 rushing touchdowns and 36 as a
receiver.

It's a body of work that will get that seemingly undersized body
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Your resume is out there, and that's it," Faulk said. "But I
start to watch guys that don't get in that have numbers, and you
start to wonder what's the criterion?

"What gets you into the Hall of Fame? Nobody knows. There is
nothing you can look at and say this is what I need to do to be
considered the best."

Faulk, a Super Bowl champion with the Rams, will reside among
the greats. And he'll be cheery to be in Canton, Ohio.

"Without a doubt," he said. "If you play this game and you don't
think of being one of the best, of being considered the best, what
are you playing for? Of course you want to be thought of as one of
the elite and for people to look at you as one of the guys that
play the game the way it was supposed to be played."

Faulk saw 11-on-11 and then some. It made him a different
player.

"Where he stood apart was his knowledge of the game and
understanding what he and everyone else was doing," Tomlinson
said.

Faulk, who turns 36 this month, now engages his football smarts
as an NFL Network analyst. His opinion is never far from the
surface, and that includes the Chargers' offseason dealings with
Tomlinson.

General manager A. J. Smith is considering options -- with and
without Tomlinson -- to improve his .500 club.

"I know right now they are in a touchy situation," Faulk said.
"The bad thing is I think if this situation is thought of
economically it could hurt them in the public eye, hurt them in the
public's perception that this is the type of organization they have
always been.

"They got away with what happened when they let Junior (Seau)
go. Junior was still playing at a high level, but it was pushed to
the background because they had L.T. here and he was doing really
good things on and off the field.

"They really have to be careful with this situation, because you
can't just replace the character portion of what L.T. brings.
Although he might not be what he was two or three years ago, he is
still better than most. Any time L.T. is at 70 percent is better
than most guys at 100 percent. They haven't had him at full
strength for two years now. If they allow that to be their
determining factor, they are just making a bad decision.

"It should be left up to L.T. Do you want to be here? If you
want to be here, let's find a way to get your cap number down. But
a pay cut is crazy; he has earned the money."